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Tuesday, January 8, 2019

Self-Image {Romans 5:8}


January 8, 2019

Image result for Romans 5:8

Do you or have you ever struggled with self-image?  I recall a time when I was at my job and a co-worker called me worthless.  It wasn't just once that I heard those words.  I heard it several more times from this person.  I kept this to myself – until now. 

I really had a difficult time going to work – for several years!  One day, this person said it again, and I’m sure the look on my face, or those prayers I had said, finally revealed to him what he was saying, and he walked up to me and said that he never meant it, he was just joking – all these years!  Really?  I spent a lot of years feeling like a crumpled up piece of paper laying in a mud puddle – discarded and never worth anything.  Worthless!

I kept going to my job every day wondering why God would make me endure this again.  Day after day.  Month after month.  Year after year.  I loved the days this person was gone because I knew I would get through the day without hearing “you’re worthless”.

Let’s do a little experiment.  Go get a twenty dollar bill, you know the new one you got from the ATM machine.  It’s a nice and crisp one.  How much is it worth?  “Ah, Lisa, it’s worth twenty dollars”, you say.  Ok, now crumple it up into a tiny ball and drop it into the toilet and let it sit there for the day.  Is it still worth it to take it out of the toilet?  Does it still have value?

Maybe this speaks more to you.  Have you ever found money laying on the ground?  How much did you find?  Was it worth the value that was printed on it when it was made?


I couldn’t always remember this when I would go to work, but I would often have this verse rattle around in my head; “So God created man in His own image.  He created him in the image of God.  He created them male and female.”  Genesis 1:27

God created us

In His image

Unfortunately, sin, our disobedience, our not believing and trusting what God said and how He is, caused us to become damaged and His image in us distorted.  We became crumpled just like the money.  We became dirty just like the money you found.


“But God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for US.  Romans 5:8 (emphasis mine)


God does not just throw us away because we are no longer perfect like Him.  We matter so much to Him that Jesus came and died to provide a way back to God for us!

 
So when Satan used this co-worker to tell me I was worthless, I had to dig and discover and believe that my worth was never lost with God!  It was through believing that I learned to glory in my suffering (Romans 5:3-5). He is our loving Father waiting with open arms for us to return to Him for forgiveness and to be made new!